John Murphy, from Gorey, Co Wexford, one of the investors in the project, said that he had decided to put his money into property because of the low returns from farming.
"I built up the farm from 90 acres over the past 25 years and now discover I am getting the same price for the milk I produce as I did when I started," he said.
It did not make sense to him to invest money in the 250-acre/140-cow dairy unit he now owned given the returns currently available from farming, where only 5 per cent of income came from the marketplace.
"Virtually every working farm in Ireland is now worth between €1 million and €3 million, but farmers are getting no returns. What I have done and others are doing is unlocking my assets."
Mr Murphy said he was untypical of the farmers involved in the project. Most were farmers with much smaller units than his and many were from the north Wexford area. Changes in farming, the surge in land values, the amount of land being taken for roads and buildings and the attitude of banks and low interest rates had created the climate for such investment.
"Most of the people involved are not exiting farming. They are using their assets to invest in property which will give them a decent return. Many of the farmers have interest-only loans which can be covered by their Single Farm Payment, so there is no great risk," said Mr Murphy, a director of the Green Oak company.